Rotterdam Open: Defending champ Auger-Aliassime reaches second round

Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, the No 3 seed, won against Italian Lorenzo Sonego 6-2, 6-3 to advance to the second round of the Rotterdam Open at the Rotterdam Ahoy on Tuesday evening.

The Canadian won 30 of 35 first-serve points and saved both break points he faced against Sonego to win in one hour and 22 minutes.

“He always fights and he always hangs in matches, so for me to win without dropping my serve and in this fashion, it’s a great way to start the week,” Auger-Aliassime said.

The Canadian improved to 4-2 on the season, and 10-3 lifetime at Rotterdam, where he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas last year for his maiden ATP title. Auger-Aliassime led the ATP tour in indoor wins with 31 in 2022, winning four titles under a roof (Rotterdam, Florence, Antwerp and Basel).

Auger-Aliassime, ranked No 8, will play French qualifier Gregoire Barrere next.

Rotterdam ATP250, other first-round results (Rotterdam Ahoy, hard, EUR 2.074.505, most recent results first):

• Alex De Minaur vs. Andrey Rublev
• Tim van Rijthoven vs. Maxime Cressy
• Botic van de Zandschulp vs. Quentin Halys
• Holger Rune vs. Constant Lestienne
• Benjamin Bonzi vs. Jannik Sinner
• Daniil Medvedev vs. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
• Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Emil Ruusuvuori
• Alexander Zverev (8) beat SoonWoo Kwon: 6-4, 7-6 (4)
• Tallon Griekspoor (WC) beat Mikael Ymer (Q): 7-6 (7), 7-5
• Hubert Hurkacz (5) beat Roberto Bautista Agut: 7-5, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (4)
• Gijs Brouwer (WC) beat Marc-Andrea Huesler: 6-3, 7-5
• Gregoire Barrere beat David Goffin: 6-0, 7-6 (3)
• Stan Wawrinka beat Alexander Bublik: 7-6 (5), 6-4
• Grigor Dimitrov beat Aslan Karatsev (Q): 6-1, 6-3
• Richard Gasquet beat Pablo Carreno Busta (7): 2-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2